


The Sun Shining on the Wolf

by cpunksteverogers



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Character Death, Elia Martell Lives, Elia Martell-centric, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Multiple Pov, Queen in the North, child character death, non-graphic descriptions of sexual assault, other relationships to be determined later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 05:14:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19805485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cpunksteverogers/pseuds/cpunksteverogers
Summary: Instead of ordering the Mountain to kill Elia Martell, Tywin decides to keep her alive and hostage to secure House Martell's loyalty. Fourteen years later, after the deaths of Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark, along with the disappearance of Arya Stark, Elia sees the safety of young Sansa being as guaranteed as hers was all those years ago. Refusing to see another family torn apart like Rhaegar did to theirs, Elia begins to take the young Stark girl under her wing and plan an escape to Dorne. With her is the secret to holding the key to the North, and reclaiming Westeros for her lost son across the Narrow Sea. All Elia needs to do is find a way out of King's Landing.





	The Sun Shining on the Wolf

Elia had been in her balcony when Eddard Stark was sentenced to die. The decision was fine by her, Elia had seen enough families torn apart from the Lannisters to watch another. All the former hand had done was point out what everyone in the kingdom had already learned, and he was being sentenced to die. The bells from Baelor’s Sept echoed all the way in her rooms in the Red Keep, and she heard the cry of a young girl.

Elia perfectly remembered when Sansa Stark had begged her fiancé - the newly crowned King Joffrey Baratheon – to have mercy on her father for his treasonous behaviors. The last time the Martell stood in Court was when Joffrey and his mother had encouraged Barristan Selmy to retire from the Kingsguard, an occurrence never heard of for the band of knights. Elia suddenly lost her last ally at that moment, and saw Sansa beg the new boy king for mercy on her father, the same way she had begged Rhaegar for mercy on their family fourteen years ago.

_“Please Rhaegar, after all you’ve done to our family these past weeks. Don’t leave us like this.” Elia’s husband had been planning to leave her and their children to persuade the Stark girl, as though Rhaegar’s clear favor for the girl wasn’t causing enough strife between their family, her brothers, the Starks, and Baratheons enough as it were. “Do_ not _leave all of this behind. Your father won’t hesitate to use the children as bait in this war, you know that.” As though the beloved Prince Rhaegar hadn’t spat on their union enough at Harrenhall. Rhaegar couldn’t dare leave them behind to take the girl-child Lyanna Stark to fulfill his arrogant prophecy. Not when the country was on the verge of a civil war and Aerys grew madder with more violence each passing day._

_“My father wouldn’t dream of using you or Rhaenys as collateral. He wouldn’t dare risk something with Dorne like that.”_

_“Why not when he sent Viserys and your mother to Dragonstone in case the Keep falls?” fear suddenly spread in the pit of Elia’s stomach, “Why do you only mention Rhaenys? What are you doing with Aegon. Rhaegar spit on this family if you must, do_ not _take my son away from me. You can’t do this.”_

_“Jon and I arranged plans to switch Aegon with a boy,” Rhaegar couldn’t even look Elia in the eye as he tried to rationalize himself, “Jon will take him to Essos until time will be peaceful enough here for him to take the throne should I fall. We would have had Jaime take Rhaenys, but we couldn’t find a girl her age that looked enough like her.”_

_“So not only are you having Jon Connington take my baby boy from me. You were planning on taking Rhaenys too land leaving me while you kidnap a teenager betrothed to your cousin?”_

_“Jaime will protect you and Rhaenys. And don’t talk about Lyanna. She doesn’t need to be involved in this.”_

_“She absolutedly should Rhaegar!” Elia felt herself snap, “I do not falt the girl in the slightest. I fault you. You’re abandoning your family to take this_ child _and kickstart this war. And as for Jaime, you well know his father has been conspiring against yours for years. When the decision becomes us or Tywin’s will, you know Lannister will falter.”_

_“You don’t understand,” Rhaegar sighs, “You’re not strong enough. Lyanna can give us –“_

_“A third head. A Visenya to Aegon. We’ve talked of this. WE can find our surrogate at a later time. After the threat of war passes over. For now, focus on keeping your living dragons safe.”_

_“That’s what I’m trying to do, Elia.”_

_“Do not call me by name, Rhaegar. And do not dare plead with me.” She hisses as though Oberyn were speaking for her, “If you have held any love for me through our marriage, let’s go to Dorne. Stay with my brothers. Don’t take Aegon from me. After everything. Please, Rhaegar. Please don’t take away my son.”_

_“I can’t do that Elia. I’m sorry.”_

From what Elia heard from the sept, Sansa’s pleads to Joffrey proved to be as effective as hers were to Rhaegar all those years ago. Robert had been cruel enough, forcing her to witness the unveiling of Rhaenys’ corpse, after what the Mountain did to her on top of it, but Robert didn’t hold a candle to what his son could do. The Stark girl was now every bit of an isolated hostage as she was. With the execution of her father, her missing sister, the deaths of her septa and the rest of the Stark men, Sansa was as alone as she was with Barristan’s departure.

Elia had made a promise to herself to protect Sansa from what she would face later on. The girl was barely twelve years old, and Elia couldn’t make the lions devour the wolf cub the way they tried to eclipse her sun.

It took until week after Eddard Stark’s beheading for Elia to see Sansa walk through the halls again. When she came past the girl, she saw a split lip and bruise darken around the corner of her blue eyes. Elia decided to take the moment to finally speak to the girl.

“Did His Highness end up doing that to you?” she asked low so no other ears could hear her. Sansa’s eyes widened, though she kept her courteous composure and needlessly bowed to Elia.

“Princess Elia, I apologize for my state,” the girl’s voice was even, yet Sansa sounded like a mouse worn out from a cat, “I had insulted my beloved Joffrey, with words you think my treasonous father would have spoken. I had been punished by the King’s guard of course in retaliation, but everything is perfectly fine, I assure you. His Grace is simply stressed over his coronation and losing his father, and after the treason my family and his uncles have started towards him, I understand taking out his frustrations on me.” The girl had been as reserved of a lady before maidenhood as Elia was in her early twenties. Though Sansa should have lost her composure by now, she kept a resiliency so often understated by the others in court, Elia realized.  
“Lady Sansa, I’ve seen Joffrey grow up, I more than know what he can do. We don’t have to discuss anything out here in the open, in fact I’d prefer if we hadn’t – too many ears. But I would like to talk to you once a fortnight, about what you must be dealing with.”

“Why would you be so gracious to help me?” Elia realizes how tall the Stark girl stands now, certainly towering herself, “My aunt caused the death of your family?”

“My husband caused the death of my children, Sansa. Just as the Lannisters did. Your aunt was a child my husband selfishly stole for a horrendous prophecy that caused the Targaryen dynasty to fall. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to another family.”

“I love Joffrey, I do,” Sansa needs to learn to lie better, “but I do feel lonely at times. I haven’t seen Jeyne since before my father –“

“I’ll come to you the third day of the week, then,” Elia smiles at the girl, “be safe, please. Light a candle after dinner, and I shall come to you after sunset.” Sansa nods in response, quickly learning not to let everything be spoken, and for the first time, Elia sees the girl somewhat relieved.

**Author's Note:**

> I still maintain that Young Griff is indeed Aegon. Elia clearly knows how to keep a secret and Rhaegar having Jon separate them kind of fuels my Rhaegar anti ass even more. This fic is mainly self indulgence to my love for the Martells, justice for Elia, and for maintaining that Sansa deserved a more genuine friend and mentor than she has in canon.


End file.
